Category Archives: Military Matters

Pressure pointed

Posted on November 30, 2012 by SUMPTER

Counting the reasons not to go into winter quarters 150 years ago this week citizens in Richmond could read this recap of the New York Herald’s case for immediate attacks by the federal armies. From the Richmond Daily Dispatch December … Continue reading →

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the greenbacks are in the mail

Posted on November 28, 2012 by SUMPTER

What do you tell the “butcher and baker, and kerosene seller”? It is said that pay in the Union army was usually behind schedule. Here a soldier’s wife explains the issue on the home-front and shows that the army would … Continue reading →

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Thanksgiving near Portsmouth

Posted on November 27, 2012 by SUMPTER

Last week The Civil War 150th Blog compared the official Union and Confederate Thanksgivings in 1862. Presidents Lincoln and Davis were thankful for military victories and proclaimed days of Thanksgiving in April and September respectively. Thanksgiving days were pretty fluid … Continue reading →

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Enemy Campfires Increasing

Posted on November 26, 2012 by SUMPTER

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in 1862: From Gen. Burnside’s Army. FALMOUTH, Va. Nov. 26. It is expected the railroad will be finished to-morrow from Acquia Creek to the Rappahannock, opposite Fredericksburg. The bridge over Potomac Creek was … Continue reading →

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“visited by this fiendish invasion”

Posted on November 24, 2012 by SUMPTER

150 years ago today the Richmond Daily Dispatch reported on Union General Burnside’s demand that Fredericksburg, Virginia surrender or else risk being bombed. The Dispatch report stated that the Yankees lobbed a few shells toward the railroad depot where a … Continue reading →

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Nation’s Abundance, Army’s Impedimenta

Posted on November 22, 2012 by SUMPTER

Don’t be like Mac. A couple weeks after relieving the dilatory George McClellan from command of the Army of the Potomac, President Lincoln advises Nathaniel Banks to stop requisitioning supplies, stop procrastinating, and get his Army of the Gulf sailing … Continue reading →

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Little Mac in Big Apple

Posted on November 20, 2012 by SUMPTER

150 years ago today recently ousted General George McClellan spoke to adoring crowds in New York City. Apparently he held off on dissing the Lincoln administration and seems to be genuinely appreciative of all New Yorkers had contributed to the … Continue reading →

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All Liquored Up

Posted on November 17, 2012 by SUMPTER

New recruits from Buffalo cause havoc on a troop train; another member of an “old’ regiments dies by disease. These two quick articles were printed consecutively in the same column in a Seneca County, New York newspaper in November 1862: … Continue reading →

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Keystone Cops

Posted on November 16, 2012 by SUMPTER

Provost Guard has its work cut out for it at Camp Curtin. Richmond’s Daily Dispatch says the removal of native Pennsylvanian George McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac has caused an increase in the turbulence at Camp … Continue reading →

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Hyde Parked – for good!

Posted on November 15, 2012 by SUMPTER

Civil War Interactive used to have a great paragraph about 150 years ago today – the gadget loving President Lincoln visited the Washington Navy Yard with Secretaries Seward and Chase to watch Captain John A.B. Dahlgren test a device called … Continue reading →

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